The Harijans are an occupational group or community who are considered as the fifth category outside four Varnas in the Hindu Casteism. They had been brought to their current locations from different parts of India during the British colonial rule. They traditionally work as ‘sweepers’ or cleaners under the city corporations and municipalities of Bangladesh. To date the Harijans face severe social discrimination and many treat them as ‘untouchables’.  They are often termed as methor to belittle and disrespect their occupation of cleaning garbage and dirt. On top of social discrimination, they face severe economic exploitation. Even the young educated Harijans cannot enter new occupations because of their identity. 

This monograph presents findings of a study of Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) on demographic and socio-economic conditions of the community, which is a valuable addition to the academic and public discourse on social exclusion of the Harijans in Bangladesh.

Those choosing sex work as an occupation or forced into it for making a living are not only cut off from social relations but also become victims of various types of violence including killing, neglect, cheating and abuses in their daily life. They are indeed modern slaves. Once one enters this occupation generally has not exit.

There are 3,721 female sex workers (FSWs) working in 11 brothels in Tangail, Jamalpur, Mymensingh, Faridpur, Rajbari, Jashore, Khulna, Bagerhat and Patuakhali districts in the country (2018). However, the majority of the sex workers—nearly 90,000—work on the streets, in the hotels and residence.

This report is on the sex workers working in the brothels and on the streets. SEHD carried out a survey on brothel-based (11 brothels) and street-based sex workers in 2017-2018 and published this report with its findings. This report brings up-to-date picture of brothels, difficulties the sex workers encounter, their delicate position in the society and their needs.

The Kaiputra is a small pig rearing community concentrated in 41 villages in the South-western districts of Jashore, Satkhira and Khulna. Their guesstimated population is 12,000. The Kaiputras, basically Hindus, are generally despised in the society because they rear pigs, an animal ‘filthy’ to the Muslim majority. Many consider them as ‘untouchables’. 

No matter wherever you see a herd of black swine in the open field of Bangladesh, which may not be owned by someone from the Kaiputra community, the rakhals (herders) in almost all cases are sure to come from the Kaiputra villages in Jashore, Satkhira and Khulna districts. The rakhals are the ones who perform the most difficult job to manage the herds of pigs in the open fields. Unlike any other job, they spend day and night in rains and cold and under the scorching sun in the open field to feed the pigs. They must also guard the pigs while feeding or sleeping.

People in general are taken aback or amused when they see a herd of pigs feeding in the open fields, road side or en route from one place to another. But there is little research attention or interest to this tiny community that remains mostly invisible. This monograph compiles fresh finds from a study and investigation into the life and struggle of the Kaiputras in the open fields where they raise pigs and in their villages. The Kaiputras are poor, indebted and burdened with social stigma attached with rearing pigs. All these factors keep them falling behind in education and exploring alternative employment.

Sex work remains to be a disgraceful choice in our society and women engaged in this work are defined by abusive terms, all meaning that a sex worker is a “fallen woman”. Different sources estimate the sex-workers in Bangladesh at about 60,000 (as of 2004). They work in brothels, hotels and on the streets. However, these numbers exclude those who work in the residential areas and are better off. Children constitute a significant percentage of the sex-workers. The organized sex trade gangs, poverty, oppression by husband and other family members, temptation for jobs, etc. compel most of the sex-workers into this profession.

Reliable sources of information and analysis on sex-workers are not many in Bangladesh. In this information void one will find the book, SEX-WORKERS IN BANGLADESH: LIVELIHOOD: AT WHAT PRICE?, authored by Qurratul-Ain-Tahmina and Shishir Moral, useful for information and analysis. In their journalistic exploration they have looked into the issues concerning sex workers with great aptitude and sympathy.

Engaged by the Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD) they have been investigating the situation of the sex workers since 1999. SEHD published their first work [in Bangla] in 2000. The English edition of the book is a thoroughly updated version of the Bangla edition. In the book the writers cover the majority of the sex workers who are poor.

The authors have explored various aspects and issues of sex work in Bangladesh. One very sad aspect is the agony of the sex workers who are socially excluded and subjected to extreme violence, exploitation and deprivation. The book exposes well the debate and the legality of the sex-work.

One extreme form of inhuman treatment shown to the sex workers is their eviction in violation of laws and court orders. Political forces and state agencies combined are often responsible for this unlawful action. The politics and economics of eviction of three major brothels of the country are also well-explained in the book.

A unique feature of the book is its journalistic style. The information and life stories that are contained in it are carefully organized. The book is handy and a very important resource for anyone interested in sex-work and sex-workers in Bangladesh.

This is an analytical report on the state of the excluded and marginalized communities of Bangladesh—ethnic communities, tea workers, Bede, Rishi, Harijan, Jaladas, sex workers, Kaiputra (pig rearing community) and Biharis. These communities constitute around three percent of the population of Bangladesh. They face discrimination and exclusion—socially, economically and politically—for various reasons such as their ethnic identity, situations close to slavery, occupation, casteism, culture, geographical location, landlessness and eviction from their land.

The contributors to this report participated in research and investigation on these communities and have based their write-ups on analyses and findings from the field. The write-ups, therefore, are original, full of anecdotes and present information, analyses, insights and facts about structural abuses that the excluded and marginalized communities have been facing for generations. The last section of the publication compiles reports of a series of workshop, convention, dialogue, photography exhibition and cultural programmes in which the excluded communities had eye-level exchanges with the members of the majority community including civil society organizations, high-level officials of different state agencies, politicians, researchers, top economists of the country, academics and human rights defenders. This report is a tool for work on exclusion challenges in Bangladesh both in the field and at thinking level.